HARE SRINVASA DIVINE BRHAMANANDA Lakshmana Tirtha Falls (Irupu Falls), Nagarhole National Park (Rajiv Gandhi National Park), Mysore - Sri Ramanin Padhayil The Irupu Falls (also Iruppu Falls) are located in the Brahmagiri Range in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, India, bordering the Wayanad district of Kerala. It is a fresh water cascade and is situated at a distance of 48 km from Virajpet on the highway to Nagarhole. The Falls are also known as the Lakshmana Tirtha Falls, derived from the name of the tributary of Cauvery which starts from these falls, the Lakshmana Tirtha River. A forest trail leads from these falls to the Brahmagiri Peak in Southern Kodagu. Irupu falls is a major tourist attraction as well as a pilgrimage spot. A famous Shiva temple, the Rameshwara Temple is situated on the banks of the Lakshmana Tirtha River, en route to the Falls. This temple attracts a large number of pilgrims during the festival of Shivaratri. Iruppu falls (also spelled Irpu falls or Irupu falls or Irrupu falls) is one of the most popular waterfalls of Coorg. Located near the Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarhole), Iruppu falls is very popular tourist spot because of its beauty and easy accessability. Tarred roads lead you right till the base of the hill, from where concrete steps lead you right into the waterfall. The Forest department has arranged seating areas from where visitors can relax and admire the view of the falls. The entire path to the waterfall is densely wooded Though the waters of Iruppu are rainfed, it is perenial in nature. In summer the waterfall reduces to a narrow stream but in the rainy season, the Iruppu falls presents a stunning sight. The waters of Iruppu originate from streams in the Brahamagiri range and crash down the Iruppu falls to join the Lakshman Teertha river. Iruppu falls is a part of the Brahmagiri forest range, there is a trek route that will leads to the Narimale forest camp and then on to Brahamagiri peak (Permission from forest department is needed for doing this trek). All the flora and fauna of Western ghats(elephants, bison etc) can be see in the Brahamagiri range. The endangered Malabar Blue Bandit butterfly is usually seen near the Iruppu falls Iruppu falls also has significant religious importance, legend has it that Lord Ram had stayed in these forests during the period of his banishment. Lakshman, Lord Rams brother, shot an arrow into the forest and Iruppu falls were born. At the base of the hill where Iruppu falls are located is the Rameshwara temple. This temple attracts a lot of devotees during the Shivaratri festival. The temple also hosts the village market (called Sante) every Sunday. It is located in Nagarhole forest, South Coorg, between Kutta and Gonikoppal. Road signs along the way point to Iruppu falls. On the way to Lanka, while Rama was moving with his monkey friend King Sugriva and his army of 52 crore monkeys, he gave very clear instructions to them. They were not to enter any habitation. There was 2 strategic reasons for this - Firstly, for fear of their causing a scare and creating problems for the people living there. Imagine 52 crore monkeys descending on any habitation! It would create havoc! Secondly, it was also possible that if the monkeys ate or drank from strangers they could be poisoned by the enemy. Having travelled a long distance at top speed, the monkeys were tired and thirsty. At Rama’s behest, Lakshmana hit an arrow into the earth to create the Lakshmana Teertha or Irruppu Falls as it is commonly known now. This falls is in the middle of the Nagarhole forest area is right in the middle of the Rajiv Gandhi national forest reserve area in Kodagu district. This is quite close to Hasan and is on the Mysore Bangalore highway. The place is one of scenic beauty and lush greenery with natures bounty at its best. To reach the falls we walked a long trek along a narrow jungle track while the small Lakshmana Teertha flowed gurgling on the side. I could just imagine how these waters would have recharged the tired zealous monkeys who were eager to fight on Ramas behalf. Parayanam at Lakshmana Theertham by Swami Velukkudi Krishnan: We saw many mountains at Kishkinda and that of the same mountain range continues till here. When we move south we get the bandipur mountain range and then south we get the Nilgiri mountain range and then south we get the thiruvithangur mountain range and then moving south we get the Thirukurungudi mountain range. These are all one side of the podhigai malai. The monkeys have travelled through this mountain range. Monkeys can go but how did Ram travel. He was also running out of time since he had only 30 days. If we calculate, 01 day for Rama to travel from Lanka to Ayodhya 01 day at Bharadwaja Ashram since he had asked them to stay for a night 07 days the war had happened 05 days they have taken to build the bridge to cross the ocean to reach lanka 01 day - they had spent in finding out how to build the bridge and they had waited on the sea shore. Vibhishana saranagati had happened on this day. so totally 15 days had gone and Rama had only 15 days before that. They could not start the journey on the day when Hanuman came and gave the news. They had waited for Uttara Panguni. So from the day Hanuman came and they started to travel south might be some 4-5 days.. not sure how many days. all we know is that they waited for Uttara Panguni. As per Ramayanam, Vanara padai/monkey troops had taken 5 to 7 days to reach the place from Kishkinda. This place is also part of the western ghats. This is called as Nagarhole park. The Agasthya ashram we went is at the Panna tiger reserved forest. This nagarhole has the lakshmana theertham or the iruppu falls. Huge place free from pollution. When Ram started from Kishkinda, he advised the monkeys on how should they behave, dos, donts and rules to follow when they travel. 01. One of the important advice Rama told was that they all need to travel only on the western side of the western ghat and they should not travel on the eastern side since humans are living on that side. 02. Next advice from Rama to the monkeys was that they should not eat anything given by others. The rakshashas are capable to do maya-yudham and they might take any form and can give poisonous food to the monkeys. So you should not eat anything given by others instead need to eat fruits directly from the trees. 03. The third advice from Rama was that they are going to travel along the western ghat and not sure how the places would be and might have to stay in different places and special arrangements cannot be made. This is very clear when we go on a yatra. We cannot make great arrangements and one need to adjust with whatever facilties available. Advice was to eat only satvic food and not food served by strangers. Need to avoid food which induce Rajo, thamo Gunam. We should cook and eat ourselves. We should not trouble others for eating. Need to eat natural food and that is good for health. We need to be aware of which water we are drinking and what food we are eating and this will result in good health, long life with lots of sathva guna. Rama has thought all these easily to the monkeys. We should also try to understand all this and should follow the same. These are told by Rama who is a aware of everything and we need to learn from him. It is for our goodness. So we have seen the lakshmana theertham at nagarhole. We came out of the park and we had the food happily and then we started our trip back to Mysore. Next we are going to travel towards Thirukurungudi Mahendragiri. We are almost reaching towards the end of Sri Ramanin Padhayil. SARVAM KRISHNAR PANAMASTHU
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:38:11 +0000
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